Support women's sports and SHARE this story with your friends!

by: Susi Mai

Uber cool when one of the most recognizable professional women athletes of kiting-dom pens a post. In between her very hectic travel schedule Susi Mai shares the experience at the recently concluded Core Slider Jam 2010 in Woodman’s Point, Australia. This industry event is going strong on its 3rd year.

What is the Core Slider Jam 2010?

Susi Mai killing it on the platform at the Core Slider Jam

The Core Slider Jam 2010 is a gathering of riders who are into hitting obstacles e.g. wooden platforms and ramps. Think about it as “terrain park” on water.

The event is sponsored by Core Online magazine. Primarily a free ride media event with a set of obstacles in the water for all the riders to enjoy.

The competition is not the main focus of the event, as it is loosely judged by the riders who attend. In short it is a fun event for kiting professional athletes to chillax and enjoy the sport.

Fun times at the Core Jam

Sliders and kickers are rare in kiting due to the cost and time it takes to get them built and set up. As a rider, having access to a terrain park on water is an awesome experience! I got a few good hits and practice out of it. The media from the event will be very widely distributed which helps promote my personal brand and sponsors.

The biggest challenge of this maneuver is to glide across on the wooden platform instead of water without wiping out! The kiting professional athletes make it look so easy. It is quite difficult to line up with a solid object and ride across it without getting hurt. We also need to think about our “form and style” as we glide across. Timing, form and fluidity is of utmost importance.

Kiting in Australia

Susi Mai gaining momentum at the Core Slider Jam ramp

We flew into Perth a big city in west of Australia. The kite spot for the Core Slider Jam is Woodman’s Point. Approximately an hour South of Perth near a town called Fremantle. The water is super flat, nice and very clear. It is kiting heaven! The wind varies but in the summer the wind comes daily. I was on a 7m Cabrinha Nomad during our entire stay. Though there were days when I needed a 9m and 5m. Woodman’s Point happens to be my favorite kite spot in the world EVER!

The Ozzie kite scene is one of the best in the world! Everyone is super keen and friendly. Most of the kite days end in barbeques and drink gatherings at someone’s house. I enjoyed the local brewery in Fremantle called Little Creatures. All the locals and visiting kiters would gather on Sunday afternoons. AWESOME! For lodging, we stayed in a nice Cabrinha sponsored house with a pool. So when not in the beach, I chillaxed by the pool most of the time.

Susi’s secret spot

Susi Mai enjoying the breeze in Woodsies, Australia

I found a spot, but it is not a “secret spot.” I usually session there and nobody seems to ride around it. The spot is downwind of where everyone else rides at Woodies. A tad gustier than upwind but when the main spot is packed it is nice to have some space to ride alone.

Susi shares that she ate burgers from Hungry Jacks, but they were not made of kangaroo meat. She did see a few hopping around as they drove down south.

Official Core Jam 2010 Teaser from James Boulding on Vimeo.

Thank you for sharing your kite adventure in Australia. Susi We’ll catch up with you soon at your next kite spot! For daily updates from Susi follow her on Twitter.

Support women's sports and SHARE this story with your friends!

• Kitesurf
• Sports
• SportsPLUS
• Boardsports
• Events

View Original Post at justkiteit.com

View Just Kite It's Full Profile